LOS ANGELES (KNX) — A $20,000 reward has been offered to help bring the killers of a 12-year-old boy in Wilmington to justice, courtesy of the union representing the Los Angeles Police Department.
"This particular shooting, on top of all the mayhem that’s been going on in L.A., really struck a cord with us," said Tom Saggau, an L.A. Police Protective League spokesperson. "It’s an eye opener - a kid going to pick up his brother with his [stepmom], and then the poor girl gets shot on the playground. It’s like, has it gotten this bad?"
The reward surrounds the incident that ended with Alexander Alvarado, 12, losing his life around 4:45 p.m. Monday, near Wilmington Park Elementary School.
LAPD said Alvarado, his younger brother and their 30-year-old stepmom were driving in the neighborhood when several men began shooting at their Dodge Durango. LAPD Chief Michel Moore said in an update Tuesday night.
The woman suffered a gunshot wound to the abdomen and Alvarado suffered what Moore believes to have been a fatal gunshot wound to the head.
A stray bullet also struck a 9-year-old girl in the elementary school's after-school program, LAPD said Tuesday. Both she and Alvarado's stepmom are said to be in stable condition.
The L.A. Police Protective League offered the $20,000 reward in hopes that a witness, or someone who knows the shooters, will come forward and get the suspects off the streets and behind bars.
"I can't imagine anyone in the Wilmington area who may know who these individuals are is going to want to protect a killer of a child," Saggau said. He added that hearing of the Alvarado's death struck a cord specifically because it's as though the boy is the latest victim of a crime jump in L.A. that only seems to be growing.
"When this incident happened, everybody sort of took a pause at the league," he said. " And we said 'you know, we gotta try something, we gotta do something.' ... The immediate need is to get [the shooters] off the street now."
Chief Moore echoed the thoughts on the extreme violence Monday night, saying that he wasn't able to share how many rounds were fired at the family's vehicle — but that the number was "easily" in the dozens.
“I believe that the amount of rounds that were fired is indicative that this was purposeful, this was a brazen assault in the midele of the day that - whether it was targeted in a preemptive manner or spontaneous," Moore said.
"I just know that the amount of violence...really just boggles your mind when you think [that it happened in the] afternoon, outside of a school…it’s a terrible loss of life.”
No suspect descriptions have been released, LAPD said, but through community involvement and cooperation Moore said he feels confident that the killers will be found.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the LAPD at 1-877-275-5273 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
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